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Juan García
Juan Carlo Torres García (July 21, 1919 - April 21, 2009) was a Filipino soldier and guerrilla fighter who served in World War II and the Hukbalahap Rebellion. Early life and family Juan García was born on July 21, 1919 in a suburb of the city of Cabanatuan on the island of Luzon in the American-governed Philippines. His father, Daniel Reyes García (1894-1971) was an American-educated officer in the Philippine Constabulary, and his mother, Cristina Mendoza Torres (1896-1980), was a nurse. The family were deeply Catholic as well as very conscious of their heritage, and Juan grew up in a trilingual household speaking English, Spanish, and Tagalog. García set his sights on a military career early on to follow in his father's footsteps, and even applied to West Point but was turned down. However, he was accepted into the new Philippine Military Academy, and began attending in 1939. Military service World War II With the Empire of Japan slowly encroaching on the Philippines due to its Southern Expansionist Doctrine, US and Philippine forces were placed on high alert. García was set to graduate in 1943, but he and the rest of his class were prematurely graduated in the middle of 1941 to supply the new Philippine Commonwealth Army with much-needed officers. García was made a Second Lieutenant and assigned to the 1st Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment of the 1st Regular Division. He reported to Camp Murphy at Quezon City in Rizal Province. On December 8, 1941, the Empire of Japan invaded the Philippines, a day after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The initial landings did not meet much resistance. A secondary Japanese force landed at Lamon Bay in southern Luzon. Lieutenant García and his men met the enemy close to the beaches, but unsupported by the rest of the Allied forces, were unable to put up a real defense. With no other options, the Allied forces withdrew into the Bataan peninsula and prepared to make a stand against the Japanese. The Battle of Bataan began in January 1942, with the reinforced 1st Division holding the line at Morong, in the center of the Mauban positions held by Philippine and American troops. García and his men came under heavy attack several times, and each time they forced the Japanese back. However, a Japanese force managed to penetrate the Allied line in the Silangan-Natib area and entrenched itself on Mauban Ridge. García led multiple counterattacks against this position, but was forced back. With the line indefensible, the Allied forces retreated once more. García's company was separated from its parent unit, and ended up near the center of the new line rather than the right where it was supposed to be. The Japanese in this sector were looking to exploit a gap created by the shuffling of Allied units, and ad-hoc groups of defenders were rushed forward to stop the break-in attempt. At Trail Two, Lieutenant García and his men fought off repeated fierce Japanese assaults in desperate fighting. Returned to the 1st Division after helping where they could, García's men were called upon to help reduce Japanese pockets established behind the lines by enemy infiltrators. In the Gogo-Cotar River area, they counterattacked, repeatedly destroying Japanese positions wherever they tried to set up a defense. By February, these infiltrating forces had been destroyed and the line was stabilized. Throughout March, few attempts were made to attack the Philippine-American main line, but the fighting did not cease. In April 1942, the Japanese staged a massive breakthrough. Lieutenant García led his men in a futile defense against superior enemy numbers and even attempted to counterattack as the line crumbled all around them. Retreating as far as they could, the Allied forces in Bataan surrendered soon after. García and his men, however, managed to escape and made their way even further south to the island of Corregidor, where they joined up with American troops in the last area of the Philippine islands still under Allied control. Throughout April, the defenders were confronted with shortages of food and supplies, as well as a fierce Japanese bombardment. Early in May, Japanese forces landed on the island, beginning the Battle of Corregidor. Fighting between North Point and Cavalry Point, García's men and the Americans held their ground fiercely against the invasion, exacting a heavy toll on the Japanese. García led a counterattack on the Denver Battery, pushing back the Japanese in hand to hand combat. With Japanese reinforcements landing by the hour and the defenders' numbers dwindling, the Allied forces surrendered. Lieutenant García and his small band of Filipino soldiers tried to evade the Japanese, but were eventually cornered and forced to surrender. As prisoners, the men were loaded onto a train bound for Fort Santiago in Manila, where they were to be kept. García and two other men tried to jump from the train, but the other two were shot by the Japanese in the process. Evading patrols, García made his way north, reaching the Sierra Madre mountains, where groups of other escaped soldiers had been congregating. Hearing of the success of similar forces in the Philippines, García organized a guerrilla group to fight the Japanese from their mountain base. Late in 1942, they began their first guerrilla actions, raiding convoys and blowing up supply depots. Throughout 1943, they managed to circumvent large amounts of Japanese troops and Filippino collaborators dispatched to hunt them down. The guerrillas would launch suprise attacks and then withdraw into the mountains again, having inflicted heavy casualties. The local population was generally supportive of the group and supplied García and and his men with food and intelligence. The guerrillas even managed to use turned Filipino collaborationist troops as spies. They constantly frustrated attempts by the Japanese to destroy the group, and in turn dealt a huge blow to the enemy infrastructure. Also in 1943, they made contacts with other guerrilla forces, working alongside American groups and Hukbalahap Communists alike. Supplied covertly by the American forces, the group became increasingly effective. Into 1944, García's group grew in strength and sophistication, establishing itself as a highly mobile, trained, disciplined, and well-armed guerrilla force. Many Filipinos joined because of Japanese atrocities on Luzon during the occupation. By early 1944, the guerrillas received word that American troops would soon be landing on the Philippine islands to liberate them from the Japanese. To draw attention away from the Visayas, where the initial landing would occur, the Filipinos stepped up their attacks on Japanese and collaborationist forces. By October 1944, the Americans had landed on Leyte, and in January 1945 they landed on Luzon at Lingayen Gulf. García and his men left their mountain stronghold to travel across the island and successfully linked up with the Americans, augmenting the US 1st Cavalry Division for the rest of the campaign. With the Battle of Luzon begun, the American division's orders were to drive on the capital city of Manila and capture it. García and his men, along with the Americans, reached the outskirts of the city in February, fighting through Japanese resistance all the way. Pushing rapidly into the city, the soldiers and guerillas crossed the Tullahan River and captured Malacanang Palace in the opening actions of the Battle of Manila. Soon after, the Allies liberated the Japanese prison camp at the University of Santo Tomas. Pressing onwards, Lieutenant García's men met stiffening Japanese resistance as they made their way further into the city. The Allied forces assaulted the walled city of Intramuros, one of the last enemy-held areas in the city, and drove the Japanese out in costly fighting that lasted until the end of the month. With Manila free, García and his guerrillas drove south, crossing the Marikina River and pushing back the Japanese in the Tagaytay and Antipolo areas throughout March. Pockets of resistance still remained on Luzon, and García led his men into Batangas and some of the provinces of Bicol to eliminate them. Actions continued against ever-smaller Japanese forces on the island until August 15, 1945, when the Empire of Japan finally surrendered unconditionally to the Allied powers. However, small-scale fighting continued after the surrender as many Japanese troops did not know of their country's capitulation. Postwar After the widespread destruction of the war, the Filipinos began to attempt to rebuild. García rejoined the army officially and was promoted to Captain, assigned to a small detail delivering food and aid from the United States to the starving people of Manila. However, rampant corruption, incompetence, and apathy from government officials severely hampered efforts to assist the population. García was at this time focused on internal problems and thus did not pay close attention to the rise of the Communist Hukbalahap in other parts of the country. Hukbalahap Rebellion In July 1946, the Republic of the Philippines was granted independence from the United States. In May of that year, fighting had broken out between the Philippine government and the Hukbalahap. The Huks, based in Central Luzon, raided police and army posts, including Captain García's, throughout the region at will, aided by general support from the rural peasantry. The underfunded and less than competent new military command could do little to stop the attacks. Throughout the year, the rate of attacks increased. In March 1947, the governement went on the offensive in Operation Arayat, but Captain García and his men failed to find or seriously engage the Huk forces. Negotiations began between the government and the Hukbalahap, but these broke down in mid 1948 and the fighting resumed. The Huks continued to hold the initiative in 1949 as well and Philippine forces faced little prospect of victory. By the beginning of 1950, the new administration effectively declared war on the Hukbalahap. Determined to crush the rebellion, the army was heavily reorganized. Captain García was posted to the new 7th Battalion Combat Team, an elite mobile force designed to seek out and destroy Huk forces, and placed in command of one of its three rifle companies. Throughout the year, the government forces engaged in a mixed campaign of sabotage, psychological warfare, and direct military action. Based out of Bulacan province, Captain García and the 7th BCT launched effective operations which recaptured much territory from the Huks in Central Luzon. In October, García led a successful raid on a Huk political stronghold, part of a larger Philippine government plan to deprive the Huks of political power. After a Huk unit massacred a group of innocent and neutral villagers, the army went on the offensive again. Operation Saber, beginning in January and ending in February 1951, saw García lead his men in a series of attacks against Huk bases near Mount Arayat and Mount Dorst, inflicting casualties and disrupting communications and supplies. Also in 1951, García and his men provided security for polling places in Central Luzon, ensuring that a fair and free election took place. This exercise in democracy, as well as recent military reverses greatly weakened the Hukbalahap. In the next few months, the Huks lost ground and support while that of the government substantially increased. Starting in August 1952, the 7th BCT took part in an anti-guerrilla operation in Zambales province for sevral months, eliminating Huk presence in the area's mountains. Talks for a truce began in December, but these broke down and the fighting continued. Massive offensives were carried out in April 1953, with Captain García's men joining the assault on the Huk base camp on Mount Arayat, capturing it and Buena Vista with ease. The soldiers guarded the polls again during the November elections as well. With the government now winning in the military, political, and social theaters, the Hukbalahap was barely a threat by 1954. It was in February that the army launched Operation Thunder-Lightning, an offensive meant to eradicate the Huk once and for all. From February to September, García and his men patrolled deep into Huk territory, killing and capturing many enemy combatants and destroying their infrastructure and supply bases on Mount Dorst, Mount Negron, and Mount Caudrado. By 1955, the rebellion had all but ended. Besides a few guerrilla holdouts, the government had won decisively. Retirement With the end of the Hukbalahap insurgency, García felt that the army no longer needed him. On July 17, 1956, he retired from the Philippine Army. Old comrades from the Commonwealth days and the guerrilla movement spoke very highly of his capability as a soldier and a leader, and he was highly decorated for his part in the campaigns against the Japanese and the Huks. Later life Juan García returned to his hometown of Cabanatuan, where he got a job at a local post office. He eventually became the office's manager, and held this position until his permanent retirement in 1976. In 1957, he married Nina Liwanag Piñeda, a woman from Manila who he had initially met delivering aid to her family in 1946 after the war. In 1982, García published his memoirs in a book entitled Fighting Captain Torres, which went into detail about his early life, his experiences on Bataan and Corregidor, his time as a guerrilla and later as a counter-guerrilla. On April 21, 2009, Juan Carlo Torres García passed away at his home in Cabanatuan at the age of 89. He was given a traditional Filipino Catholic lamay, or candlelight vigil which lasted five days at his grave in Cabanatuan's Sanctuary Memorial Park. Views García was an avowed Nacionalista Party supporter and voted for the NP candidate in every election in which he participated. Manuel Quezon and Sergio Osmeña were two of his biggest influences. As a soldier, he did not speak openly on politics but in private roundly denounced Elpídio Quiríno's presidency. As both Secretary of National Defense and as President, Ramón Magsaysay became one of García's personal heroes for turning around the war against the Huks, cleaning up government corruption, and improving the quality of life for all Filipinos. Despite voting for Ferdinand Marcos in 1965 and 1969, García grew dissolusioned with the increase in corruption and the decline of civil liberties under his regime and urged his friends not to support Marcos. After World War II, García believed in limited amnesty for low-level collaborators, but only as they were needed to help run the new government. Despite this, he never fully forgave those who had cooperated with the Japanese invaders. García, like his family, was devoutly Roman Catholic. Equipment As a soldier in the Philippine Commonwealth Army, García used the American M1917 Enfield bolt-action rifle, Colt M1911 pistol, and Mk II fragmentation grenade against the Japanese invasion, later using these weapons as a resistance fighter as well as during the 1944-1945 liberation campaign. He also carried a traditional Filipino Bolo knife, which he used to great effect in close-quarters combat. In 1950, García was given a newly-arrived American M1 Garand semi-automatic rifle, which he used during the final offensives of the Hukbalahap Rebellion. Trivia * García's nickname as a guerrilla fighter, Fighting Captain Torres, was bestowed upon him by an American USAFFE military attaché, Major Samuel L. Shepherd in 1943. Shepherd did not understand the peculiarities of Filipino names, and assumed that Torres was his proper surname, as it would be in Spanish. Shepherd also misunderstood García's official rank. Nevertheless, the name stuck, and García would be known as Fighting Captain Torres throughout his military career and after.Category:Soldiers in World War II Category:Soldiers in the Hukbalahap Rebellion Category:Philippine soldiers